The manipulation of on screen elements in a graphical user interface (GUI) for example, scrolling through a list displayed on the screen of an electronic device is a frequent and critical task associated with the operation and functioning of applications associated with the given electronic device. Such devices include for example mobile devices, gaming devices, computers, navigational systems, appliances, and other devices in which manipulation of on screen elements is required to carry out the function and operation of the electronic device. Accordingly, a user requires an intuitive method to quickly and accurately locate a specific item through the manipulation of the on-screen element in the graphical user interface for the electronic device.
Prior art controls and user input devices for manipulating on screen elements in a graphical user interface generally require frequent and often times awkward movement on the part of the user to manipulate the on screen element. Other prior art user input devices are generally unsatisfactory due to inaccurate targeting and/or sequencing movement through the menu list using confusing interactions. The prior art controls and user input devices also typically constrain the scrolling speed or movement rate of the on screen element. A further disadvantage is the prior art user input devices generally occupy a relatively large amount of space or volume within the electronic device or change the affect that the user input device has on the display depending upon the area over which the on-screen element is manipulated.
Other known user input devices in the prior art allow users to navigate graphical user interfaces and among such devices are touch pads, touch screens, scroll wheels, rotator dials, joy sticks, jog sticks, jog wheels, and other such controls which devices are well known to those skilled in the art. However, these user input devices typically require frequent and awkward movement with the operation of one or more keys to manipulate the on-screen element in the graphical user interface and which movements increase the risk of repetitive strain injury to the user.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a user input device to manipulate on-screen elements in a graphical user interface that provides a reduction in the frequent and awkward movements on the part of a user in manipulating the on-screen elements in a graphical user interface.
It is a goal therefore to provide a user input device to control and manipulate on-screen elements in a graphical user interface with a reduction in the frequent and awkward movement on the part of a user by causing the on-screen elements to move continually without continuous input from a user.
It is a further goal of the present invention to increase the efficiency of such usage by accelerating the movement of the on-screen element based on the time or force applied to the user input device.